Latest News

Hawaii to Host APEC Summit in 2011

HONOLULU (Nov. 14) – President Barack Obama’s selection of Honolulu as the site for the annual APEC Leaders Meeting in November 2011 means that Hawaii will both open the U.S. year of hosting APEC with an agenda-setting conference, as well as close the year with the huge Ministerial and Leaders meetings. President Obama announced Hawaii’s winning bid today at this year’s APEC meeting in Singapore.

East-West Center President Charles E. Morrison, who coordinated the Hawaii bid for APEC 2011 and is currently attending the APEC meetings in Singapore, commented: “The fact that the president is inviting his counterpart leaders to his native town is taken in many cultures as showing guests the highest respect, and Hawai‘i is the world’s most diverse Asia-Pacific community." ... more...


Victor Cha: Sanctions Regime Has Hurt North Korea and Influenced Recent 'Charm Offensive'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 16) – The sanctions set forth by the United Nations Security Council following North Korea’s nuclear test on May 25 have “taken a bite out of North Korea,” which is why Pyongyang wants to return to the Six-Party Talks, Dr. Victor Cha said in a recent interview with the U.S. Asia Pacific Council’s Washington Report. Dr. Cha, currently senior advisor and Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and a professor at Georgetown University, served as U.S. deputy head of delegation to the Six-Party Talks during the Bush administration. ...more...


Taiwan Strait Thaw Likely Not Permanent

By Denny Roy

(Note: This commentary originally appeared in The Honolulu Advertiser on Nov. 8, 2009)

After reaching a crisis level earlier in this decade as President Chen Shui-bian sought to distance Taiwan from China, relations across the Taiwan Strait have calmed noticeably since the election of Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwan’s president in 2008. This is a great relief to both Americans and Mainland Chinese. The basic controversies regarding Taiwan, however, are not resolved. They are only in remission. ... more...


Follow East-West Center:

Email Updates Facebook Flickr Linkedin Mobile Phone Edition: eastwestcenter.mobi RSS Feeds Vimeo YouTube


FEATURED EVENTS

“Dance Machines” from Torres Strait Islands
A touring exhibition from Gab Titui Cultural Centre, Thursday Island, Torrest Strait, Australia
Where: East-West Center Gallery, Burns Hall, 1601 East-West Rd., Honolulu
When: November 1, 2009 to January 3, 2010

Implementing the Madrid Action Plan in Pacific Biosphere Reserves: Pacific Island Approaches to Integrated Coastal Conservation and Sustainable Human Development
Meeting
Where: East-West Center Burns Hall
When: December 1, 2009 to December 3, 2009

East-West Center Craft Fair will Feature Gifts with International Flair
Holiday Craft Fair
Where: In front of the EWC's John Burns Hall, 1601 East-West Rd. (corner of Dole and East-West Road).
When: December 3, 2009 to December 4, 2009

More events...


Arts Events

Spotlight on Public Events

EWC Changing Faces Women’s Leadership Program participant Kalpana Sankar, CEO of Hand in Hand in Tamil Nadu (India), speaking on microfinance initiatives.

Microfinance as a Tool for Community Development

“To truly empower women there should be more to microfinance than just lending money,” emphasized Kalpana Sankar, CEO of Hand in Hand in Tamil Nadu, at an EWC public program in September. “You have to provide literacy, address enterprise, financial services and linkage to markets.”

Sankar spoke of the importance of self-help support groups, which when combined with microfinance and education and training workshops, have mobilized more than 400,000 poor and illiterate women in southern India through Hand in Hand’s programs.  Started in 1988 with a handful of employees, the NGO now is a global organization with 3,000 employees, 30,000 volunteers, and pilot programs in South Africa, Afghanistan, and Brazil.

Co-presenter Kathleen Stack, Freedom from Hunger’s Vice President for program development, discussed how her organization develops programs and partnerships that provide financial, educational, and health protection services to fight chronic hunger and poverty in 16 countries. Based in California, Freedom from Hunger’s programs empower more than 1.4 million women through training in capacity building and skills development, so they can provide sustainable livelihoods for their families.

Stack and Sankar were among 11 participants in this year’s EWC Changing Faces Women’s Leadership Program, a seminar that brings together women from Asia, the Pacific, and the United States to enhance leadership abilities and address issues of concern related to a theme.  This year’s theme focused on how women as entrepreneurs can foster economic growth and strengthen and build communities.

Video:  Click here to watch the full presentation.


FEATURED PUBLICATIONS

How the Asia Pacific Can Drive the Global Recovery
by Peter A. Petri with responses by Wendy Dobson, Yiping Huang, and Hadi Soesastro and Maria Monica Wihardja

Higher Education in Asia/Pacific: Quality and the Public Good
by Terance W. Bigalke and Deane E. Neubauer (eds.)

The ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights and Beyond
by Hao Duy Phan

More publications...

FEATURED SITES

Time for Justice, Cambodia
The latest Asian International Justice Initiative observer reports and videos from the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia.

Asia Matters for America
A new online hub for exploring graphical data on the importance of U.S.-Asia interactions to individual U.S. states and congressional districts.

EWCA Blog
An informal forum for news and updates about members of the EWC community around the world.



 
Unless otherwise noted, all content © East-West Center. All rights reserved.